Trolley head and wheel.



PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904.

'J. W. SHARP.

TROLLEY HEAD AND WHEEL.

APPLIOATION FILED MAB 4, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

INVENTOH I 1/4 .Shar v.

W B) I I W W A o/m/Ers UNITED STATES Patented December 20, 1904..

PATENT @EEicE.

TROLLEY HEAD AND WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,698, dated December20, 1904.

' Application filed March 4,1904.- Serial No. 196,568.

To a whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JosEPH W. SHARP, residing at Mohawk, in the countyof Herkimer and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedTrolley Head and Wheel, of which the following is a specification.

My invention seeks to provide'an improved construction of combinedtrolley head and wheel of a very simple, durable, and economicalcharacter in which the trolley-wheel is arranged to readily adapt it forhigh-speed work with a minimum amount of wear on the operating parts.

Generically, my invention comprehends a pair of opposing head sectionsof resilient metal adapted to be conveniently and detachably connectedwith the 'trolley pole or arm and whose upper ends are provided withadjustingmeans where by to adjust the said head sections toward or fromeach other, the ends of such head-sections being provided with socketseach having an internal ball-race and a lubricatingaperture, and atrolley-wheel fixedly mounted upon an axle provided at each end with aball-journal for engaging the sockets in the head-sections and whichhave annular grooves for opposing the ball-races in the heald-sockets toreceive supplemental bearingbal s.

In its more subordinate features my invention consists in certaindetails of construction and arrangement of parts, all of which will befirst fully explained and then specifically pointed out in the appendedclaims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which IFigure 1 is a perspective view of a trolley head and wheel embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof on the line 2 2 ofFig. 3. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same on the line 3 3 of Fig.2. Fig. 4 is a detail section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is adetail view of the wheel and the ball-equipped axle.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals andletters of ref-- erence indicate like parts in all the figures, thetrolley pole or arm A may be of the usual construction, the upper end inthe application of my invention being round, as at a, to re ceive thesemicircular ends 6 of the trolleyhead sections B B, which sections aredivergingly held on the said bearing end a by the bolt and nut devices 11 as shown. The sections 6 5 are stamped, cast, or otherwise formed ofsteel or other resilient material, the spring of which is outwardly inthe direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 to normally keep theirwheel-bearing ends 5 5 spread for the purposes presently explained. Thespring tension of the divergingly-held head-sections is controlled bythe bolt 0, that passes through the two sections and receives a nut 0,as clearly shown in-Fig. 3. Theopposing faces of the two head portionsof the. sectionsB B are cut out, as at b 6 to provide a space for thetrolley-wheel D, and the said ends 6 6 are thickened and formed withsubstantially hemispherical pockets or recesses 3 3, provided withannular grooves or ball-races 3 3, and each of the said ends 6 Z2 has adiagonallydisposed aperture 3 3 that opens through the top of the headends 6 b and communicates with the grooves or ball-races 3 3, as shown.The said apertures 3 3 serve as feedways for the small ball -bearings,presently referred to, as well as oil-admitting apertures.

The feedways to the channels 3 3 are screw-threaded to receive tubularplugs,which prevent the small bearing-balls from coming out of theirrace and which also serve as simple and convenient lubricant-conveyers,the said plugs being threaded to cooperate with the threads formed inthe feedways or apertures, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, and arethemselves closed by the screw-plug, as shown.

The trolley-wheel D is of the usual type; but in my invention it isfixedly connected to and revolves with its axle G, which is square or ofother non-circular shape. Upon each end of the axle G is mounted a largeballbearing E E, and. the said bearings E E are adapted to snugly fitthe sockets in the opposing head members 6 6 as clearly shown in Fig. 3,from which it will be noticed that through the medium of thebolt-and-nut connectionC the two head portions b b can be readilyadjusted to hold the axle Gr from unnecessary longitudinal play withinits bearing, and in case of wear on the bearings E the faces of thesocket can be readily moved up to and close against the ends of thebearingballs E E by tightening up the nut 0.

Each of the ball-bearings E E has an annular groove-or ball-race e e,that opposes the ball-races in the heads 6 I2 and receives the smallbearing-balls f, which are fed into the grooves or races through thefeedways 3 3 when the lubricating-plugs are removed. One or both of theball-bearingsE are detachably mounted on the axle G to provide forreplacing them when worn and also to facilitate the operative assemblingof the parts. i i

To insure a good electrical connection between the wheel and the head, Iuse the usual copper contact-plates P P, as shown.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the complete construction, operation, andadvantages of my invention will be readily understood by those skilledin the art to which it appertains, and it, will be noticed that byhaving the wheel turn with the axle the same can be run under a veryhigh speed with a uniform bearing on the axle in the journalreceivingportions of the trolley-head, and the wear of the said journals isreduced to the minimum. Furthermore, by reason of the ball bearing endsof the axle fitting into the hemispherical recesses of the head in themanner shown and described the wheel also has a slight lateral playsufiicient to accommodate itself to curves, &c.

I am aware that trolley head and Wheels have heretofore been provided inwhich a wheel has been mounted in the socket of the divided trolley heador harp and in which the trolley-wheel rotates with its axle or shaft.My invention differentiates from what has been heretofore provided inthis art, so far as I know, in the peculiar combination of the dividedhead, its special construction of bearing ends or wheel, with itsfixedly-held axle, having large bearings at the ends which areconstructed in connection with their securingsockets to sustain thesmall bearing-balls.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. A trolley-head consisting of two opposing sections, the upper ends ofsuch sections having substantially opposing hemispherical pockets andapertures communicating therewith, a wheel rotatably mounted between theupper ends of the head-sections, an axle for the said wheel rotatabletherewith, and ball members at its ends to engage the hemisphericalpockets, and means for clamping the upper ends of said head-sections toclose toward each other and over the ball ends of the wheel-axle, asspecified.

2. A trolley-head composed of a pair of opposing head-sections ofresilient material and bifurcated at the upper end to receive thetrolley-wheel, each head-section having a substantially hemisphericalpocket, and an internal ball-groove, each head having a ballfeedway thatcommunicates with the said internal ball-groove, a tubular plug for eachfeedway, an axle and a bearing-ball at each end thereof to engage theopposing headpockets, said end bearing-balls each having an annularball-receiving groove adapted to oppose the internal groove of thepockets whereby to form ball-races to receive the bearing-balls adaptedto be fed through the aforesaid feedways, and means for forcing theopposing head-sections together, substantially as shown.

3. The hereinbefore described improvement in trolley heads and wheelscomprising in combination; a bifurcated head formed of a pair ofopposing sections whose lower ends are shaped to embrace the upper endof the trolley head or arm, the upper end of the head sections eachhaving a substantially hemispherical pocket provided with an internalannular groove and with a feedway extending through the top of the saidends and communicating with the groove in the pocket,- the clampingdevice for adjusting the upper ends of the two head-sections together, atubular plug for each of the feedways, a trolleywheel and an axleturning therewith, and a bearing-ball at each end of said axle, saidbearing-balls being adapted to seat in the headpockets and provided withannular grooves for opposing the grooves in the pockets, andsupplemental bearing-balls for engaging the pockets and the axlebearing-balls, for the purposes specified.

JOSEPH W. SHARP.

Witnesses:

GUY DOUBLEDAY, PETER Hess.

